Chapel: Trust God’s plan for your life

Jeff Gokee says he hit rock bottom two years ago when his son Cooper was diagnosed with leukemia. He sat on Cooper’s bed, wrought by despair and suddenly having doubts about God’s plan for his family, when Cooper spoke up.

“Dad,” Cooper said, “I think God allowed me to have leukemia so He could show the world how He heals.”

Chapel speaker Jeff Gokee: “We often get so wrapped up in our own lives that we don’t even see Jesus in our midst.” (Photo by Darryl Webb)

Just like that, his doubts and despair were gone, Jeff told the Chapel audience Monday morning in Antelope Gym. The executive director of Phoenix One used that story to explain how Jesus is always there with us, but we need to give Him control and listen to Him – or, in this case, listen to Him through the inspiration of an 8-year-old boy.

“We often get so wrapped up in our own lives that we don’t even see Jesus in our midst,” Gokee said.

Gokee referred to the passage from Luke 24:13, about how Cleopas and his companion walking on the road to Emmaus didn’t recognize the resurrected Christ because they expected a Messiah who would be bigger than life and slay evil, not one who would live simply and die on a cross. They were discouraged and overwhelmed because, as Gokee put it, “He was not who they thought He was.”

“We do that a lot with God,” he said. “God says, ‘This is the plan,’ and we say, ‘Not sure.’ And then when it goes bad, whom do we blame? We blame God.”

Cooper, now 10, was the honorary race starter for last year’s Run to Fight Children’s Cancer on the GCU campus. Jeff said he has learned to trust God’s plan for his son and urged listeners to do the same with challenges they face in their lives.

“Pull yourself out of the frustration you feel and allow Him to pull you out of it,” Gokee said.

Chapel will not meet next Monday because of spring break. The speakers for the remaining Chapel sessions, all in Antelope Gym at 11:15 a.m., are: